Ronnie wasn't really prepared for Cark going all out. My friend had previously been holding back a bit because he was feeling out his opponent, but he wasn't fucking around when he made his second attack. Rather than anything small and contained like an orb or some kind of spray, the next attack was a fucking TORRENT of aqua flame that hissed as it ate at even the air around it.

I'd never considered the synergy between my poison fire and something like the staff before, but as a flame calling focus it was apparently perfect for this. Aside from the poison, the fire aspect from Consecration of Flames augmented the already boosted power of the fire Cark was outputting, and he was taking full advantage, sculpting the wave of toxic blue flame into the shape of a coiling serpent that roared toward the other man, mouth agape in a roar of challenge.

A roar that Ronnie met head on with one of his own. Despite being clearly intimidated the big thug didn't let his confidence waver, he planted his feet, opened his mouth, and unleashed an augmented bellow of force that tore up the ground in front of him as it raced toward the other fighter. The blast hit the head of the snake and ripped it apart, exploding the flame construct into a shower of disparate flames.

Without a second of hesitation Cark whirled the staff, gathering the dissipating snake into another construct, a leopard this time, and jerked the staff up, ordering the animal to bounce off the ceiling to get a better angle. Ronnie snarled, using that guttural sound like a thunder clap to disperse the leopard. Not wanting to give him time to recover, Cark kept the battle going, flicking his staff lightly and separating the cascade of falling fire into a dozen smaller shapes.

With a second flick he set the now fluttering forms of a series of falcons whirling in a circle over Ronnie before ordering them all to dive bomb the big man. The fuchsia haired loudmouth threw back his head and roared, managing to blast away MOST of the falcons, but one of them got through, smashing into a shoulder before he had a chance to react to the flame beast, and sinking into him like a rock into a pool of deep water. Ronnie roared with anger and pain as the bird slipped under his skin, clawing at his own chest and arm to get it out.

The enhanced poison fire was much more effective than I had expected, submerging under the skin and causing a burning swathe of toxic flesh to permeated out under his clawing hand. Sadly, G rankers who weren't mindless slaves or random students were a tougher nut to crack than the ones we had fought so far. He reached into a pocket of his too tight pants and fished out a clear sphere that I was pretty sure was a pill. He tossed it back, leaving his head lolled for a second before spitting it back into his hand with a glare at Cark.

When the pill came out of his mouth, the poison fire was siphoned out of his flesh and into the sphere. The now blue green pill sat glowing on his palm, and he shoved it into a pocket before spitting to one side in disgust. "Ok, this was fun to start, but you're getting annoying. That actually hurt, and that pill cost me a fuck ton of money. No more playing around you jumped up little pansy." Ronnie set his feet shoulder width apart at those words and took up a boxing stance as he faced Cark.

Without another word he started firing off punches. One, two, a steady rapid fire tempo that picked up speed as he went. As he moved faster I could hear the noise of the punches begin to mount, and the air and dust around him started to stir. Cark got what was happening too because he shot another blast of poison fire. Nothing fancy, just an attempt to get him off his game before he could get himself moving at a pace that would be dangerous for the big bounty hunter or the rest of us around him.

It didn't work. The next jab snapped back with a crack, and the burst of force dispersed the flames before Ronnie slipped back into his tempo, resuming his speed up as the force blasts started cracking and warping the air. Ronnie unleashed a flurry of punches, each one displacing the air around him like a thunder clap, and increasing in power with every blow. The bursts of sonic damage were much more focused than I'd expected, and while Cark managed to duck and dodge some of them, it quickly became clear that continuing to do so wasn't an option.

In order to combat the ranged carpet bombing the boxer was laying out, Cark was forced to use consistent bursts of flame to disperse the sonic blasts. Rather than just pure fire, he seemed to be letting loose miniature explosions, short sharp expanding snaps of fire that displaced the air when they were released, nullifying the force. He was able to nearly intercept and blast apart every single burst of sound, seeming unconcerned with Jerk trying to pun holes in him like a cheap piece of paper. The sight of his staff whirling to and fro was mesmerizing.

Despite the apparent ease though, I could see that this wasn't going well. It took effort and concentration to form those bursts, more than it took to slap a bit of power into a punching noise, even if you had to shape it. At least, that was the impression I got based on the slight sheen of sweat on Cark and the triumphant grin growing on Ronnie's face. This was not an even match, even with my help. I wasn't sure how strong Ronnie was after getting help from the other candidate, but my guess was pretty close to F rank, and almost all of it was in Might.

So I did what any reasonable person would do in this situation. I cheated, as subtly as possible. I triggered Sucking Mud on the floor, making sure not to draw attention to it. I could tell Ronnie had noticed, obviously, but at the speed they were moving any interruption in the barrage of sonic blasts would be an opening that Cark could exploit, and Ronnie couldn't afford that. I saw the big man try to shift his feet a few times, but they were minor shifts, because anything else would compromise his footing and he would have lost his rhythm.

On top of that I don't think he knew what was happening here. I suspect the softening of the ground under him was mostly attributed to all the heat being thrown around. By the time he sunk down enough to realize it was more than that, he'd have had to tear his feet loose to get them free, and Cark was hammering out explosions at him so fast that he was actively having to work at deflecting them now.

Once my friend caught sight of what was happening he not only blitzed out more attacks to keep his enemy going, he even overwhelmed the other's pace and stole the tempo of the battle for him. Because there was an end in sight for this fight, he didn't try to conserve power or go for the long game, he just put it all on the line to overwhelm his foe, and it appeared to be working. Within a few minutes Ronnie was shin deep in the floor, and his face was starting to look panicked. Cark was pale and sweating, but he didn't seem to care much, happy to pour on the heat until it was over.

As they fought, several bursts of flame had made it through, and Ronnie's body was slowly being overcome with poison flame. He didn't have the time or space to get out another pill like the last one, so all he could do was slowly be worn down unless he wanted to take one of those blasts somewhere really dangerous. I turned to Callie as we watched. "So, what are we going to do when Cark takes him down? Do we need to step in? I don't really know the protocol here for Unity members."

Callie shook her head. "This is WCP territory, and he actively came here looking for a fight. As long as they don't actually kill him right in front of us I say we let them take him. He's a sadist and a bastard, and this is gang business outside of our territory. If he was someone we liked we might be able to push for his release given all the players here that we know and can call in favors from, but honestly I wouldn't bother. This is his mess, he can get himself out of it." Her voice was cold and detached, almost clinical as she gave me her read on the situation.

I reached over to squeeze her hand. I could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable with the solution, but that she knew he would cause more problems and probably harm us later. This wasn't the sleepers, where we needed to try our best to spare them because they were unwilling pawns. Ronnie was a violent bully who would actively target our friends and loved ones, and was getting close to strong enough that he would be a real problem for us soon. Letting the Militia have him was the smart call. They would almost definitely interrogate him, but the other candidate was almost certainly smart enough to have a geas to protect her secrets. He wouldn't answer, and he would probably die.

Surprisingly, I didn't actually have a problem with that. I expected to feel upset or disgusted, but somewhere along the lines us versus them had become the norm. Ronnie had expressed a vested interest in harming people I cared about, and while I don't know if I could have brought myself to kill him in cold blood, no matter how angry he made me, I was shockingly alright with letting him reap the consequences of his own actions. I wondered if this was recursion as well, or if I'd always been the type of person willing to put morality aside to protect my loved ones. It was getting hard to tell where I ended and Solomon began these days.

As the poison fire began to take more and more effect, Ronnie's movements became jerkier and less forceful, and his shaping of his sonic waves became less cohesive. Rather than bursts of force they started to resemble waves of concussive damage, a less and less effective counter to the explosive bursts of poison fire. As he gained the advantage Cark began to close in, and Ronnie became both more frantic and more agitated as he did so, trying desperately to avoid letting the clearly powerful G ranker get within touching distance.

I wasn't sure what Ronnie was afraid of, but he was able to wring out the last little bit of strength in his body to put out a full on assault of sound that stalled Cark at a few feet out, and our friend wasn't able to close the distance. Finally, the bounty hunter stopped where he was, and Ronnie let his fists drop. He gave a vicious snarl. "I won't let you get in close. You won't be able to finish this without coming closer to me, especially if you let me take another antidote pill. You aren't as strong as me. Not to mention I'm a bit woozy." He gave a vicious grin. "What if my next attack hits one of your H rankers?"

Cark looked at him hard, he sighed disconsolately and let the staff fall to his side, hanging his head in shame. "Fine. Take your pill." Ronnie laughed unpleasantly, reaching down into his pants to get the pill, and as he did he glanced down for a split second. With absolutely no hesitation Cark hauled back and smashed the stick into the big mans head. Ronnie's eyes widened, but the poison flooding his brain didn't give him a chance to react as Cark bashed him over the skull with the elemental focus over and over again. He looked pretty unwilling as he finally passed out, and I could understand why. That staff was a ranged weapon, it shouldn't have been a viable bludgeon. I really loved my skills sometimes.